i Tool User Guide

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iTool Users Guide

IDL Version 7.1

May 2009 EditionCopyright ITT Visual Information Solutions

All Rights Reserved

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Acknowledgments

ENVIand IDLare registered trademarks of ITT Corporation, registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. ION, IONScript,ION Java, and ENVI Zoomare trademarks of ITT Visual Information Solutions.

ESRI, ArcGIS, ArcView, and ArcInfoare registered trademarks of ESRI.

Portions of this work are Copyright 2008 ESRI. All rights reserved.

Numerical Recipes is a trademark of Numerical Recipes Software. Numerical Recipes routines are used by permission.

GRG2 is a trademark of Windward Technologies, Inc. The GRG2 software for nonlinear optimization is used by permission.

NCSA Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) Software Library and Utilities. Copyright 1988-2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. All

rights reserved.

NCSA HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format 5) Software Library and Utilities. Copyright 1998-2002, by the Board of Trustees of the University ofIllinois. All rights reserved.

CDF Library. Copyright 2002, National Space Science Data Center, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

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Portions of this software are copyrighted by DataDirect Technologies, 1991-2003.

BandMax. Copyright 2003, The Galileo Group Inc.

Portions of this computer program are copyright 1995-1999, LizardTech, Inc. All rights reserved. MrSID is protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,710,835.Foreign Patents Pending.

Portions of this software were developed using Unisearchs Kakadu software, for which ITT has a commercial license. Kakadu Software. Copyright

2001. The University of New South Wales, UNSW, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia, and Unisearch Ltd, Australia.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (www.apache.org/).

MODTRAN is licensed from the United States of America under U.S. Patent No. 5,315,513 and U.S. Patent No. 5,884,226.

QUAC and FLAASH are licensed from Spectral Sciences, Inc. under U.S. Patent No. 6,909,815 and U.S. Patent No. 7,046,859 B2.

Portions of this software are copyrighted by Merge Technologies Incorporated.

Support Vector Machine (SVM) is based on the LIBSVM library written by Chih-Chung Chang and Chih-Jen Lin (www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/libsvm),

adapted by ITT Visual Information Solutions for remote sensing image supervised classification purposes.

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iTool Users Guide

ContentsChapter 1

Introducingthe IDL iTools......................................................................................... 1

Introducing the iTools .................................................................................................... 2

Using This Guide............................................................................................................. 2

Chapter 2Importing and Exporting Data ............................................................. 2

About the Data Manager ................................................................................................ 2

Data Manager Interface ............................................................................................ 2

Data Item Management............................................................................................. 2

Data Import Methods ...................................................................................................... 2

Using the Data Import Wizard ................................................................................. 3

Using File Open ........................................................................................................ 3

Using IOPEN ............................................................................................................ 3

Using the Data Manager Dialog ............................................................................... 3


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Contents iTool Users Guide

Importing Data from a File .............................................................................................. 36

Importing Image Data ............................................................................................... 36

Importing ASCII Data ............................................................................................... 36

Importing Binary Data............................................................................................... 37

Importing Shapefile Data .......................................................................................... 38

Working with Unknown Data ......................................................................................... 39

Using the Gridding Wizard ....................................................................................... 40

Importing Data from the IDL Session ............................................................................. 43

Importing Graphic Objects ........................................................................................ 44

Parameter Data and the Command Line.................................................................... 44

Exporting and Saving Data ............................................................................................. 46

Saving Data Using Save As....................................................................................... 46

Exporting Image Data to a File ................................................................................. 48

Exporting Data to the IDL Session............................................................................ 50

Chapter 3Visualizations........................................................................................ 53

About Visualizations........................................................................................................ 54

Visualization Creation Methods ...................................................................................... 55

Creating Visualizations Automatically ..................................................................... 55

Inserting Visualizations ............................................................................................ 57

Modifying Existing Visualizations ................................................................................. 59

The Parameter Editor................................................................................................. 59

Removing Data Associations .................................................................................... 60

Replacing Data Associations..................................................................................... 60

Exporting Visualizations.................................................................................................. 61

Exporting to a File ..................................................................................................... 61

Chapter 4Manipulating the Display ..................................................................... 63

Introduction...................................................................................................................... 64

Selection of Objects ......................................................................................................... 65

Select All ................................................................................................................... 65

Undo/Redo ....................................................................................................................... 66

Adding a Data Space........................................................................................................ 67

Translation ....................................................................................................................... 68

Scaling .............................................................................................................................. 69


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iTool Users Guide Conten

Zooming .......................................................................................................................... 7

Canvas Zoom ............................................................................................................ 7

View Zoom ............................................................................................................... 7

View Panning .................................................................................................................. 7

Window Layouts ............................................................................................................. 7

Chapter 5Adding Annotations.............................................................................. 7

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 8

Legends ........................................................................................................................... 8

Annotations ..................................................................................................................... 8

Text Annotations....................................................................................................... 8

Line Annotations....................................................................................................... 8

Rectangle Annotations .............................................................................................. 8

Oval Annotations ...................................................................................................... 8

Polygon Annotations................................................................................................. 8

Freehand Annotations ............................................................................................... 8

Additional Axes............................................................................................................... 8

Chapter 6Property Sheets and Browsers............................................................ 8

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 9

iTool Property Sheets ...................................................................................................... 9Visualization Property Sheets ................................................................................... 9

Operations Property Sheets....................................................................................... 9

The iTool Visualization Browser .................................................................................... 9

The iTool Operations Browser ........................................................................................ 9

The iTool Preferences Browser ...................................................................................... 9

General Settings ..................................................................................................... 10

File Readers ........................................................................................................... 10

File Writers ............................................................................................................ 10

Chapter 7Common Operations........................................................................... 11

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 11

File Operations .............................................................................................................. 11

Opening Files .......................................................................................................... 11


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Importing Variables and Files ................................................................................. 117

Saving Files ............................................................................................................. 117

Exporting Variables and Files ................................................................................. 118

Exiting the iTool...................................................................................................... 118

Rotation.......................................................................................................................... 119

Mouse Rotation ....................................................................................................... 119

Rotate Left and Rotate Right................................................................................... 121

Rotate by Specified Angle....................................................................................... 122

Transformations ............................................................................................................. 123

Resample ................................................................................................................. 123

Rotate Data .............................................................................................................. 124

Scale Data................................................................................................................ 125

Filtering.......................................................................................................................... 126

Smooth Filter ........................................................................................................... 126

Median Filter ........................................................................................................... 127

Convolution Filter ................................................................................................... 128

Unsharp Mask Filter ................................................................................................ 129

Morphing........................................................................................................................ 131

Additional Operations .................................................................................................... 132

Plotting a Histogram................................................................................................ 132

Displaying Statistics ................................................................................................ 133

Resetting Dataspace Ranges.................................................................................... 135Rendering Translucent Objects...................................................................................... 136

Operations on Regions of Interest.................................................................................. 137

Operations Modifying ROI Data ............................................................................. 137

Operations Modifying ROI Vertices ....................................................................... 137

Printing........................................................................................................................... 138

Print Preview ........................................................................................................... 138

Chapter 8

Working with Macros.......................................................................... 143Introduction.................................................................................................................... 144

What Are Macros? ......................................................................................................... 145

Recording Macros ......................................................................................................... 147

Capturing Intermediate Manipulations.................................................................... 148

Running Macros ............................................................................................................ 153


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Running from the Operations Menu ....................................................................... 15

Running from the Macro Editor.............................................................................. 15

Running from the Command Line .......................................................................... 15

Using the Macro Controls Dialog ........................................................................... 15

Using the Macro Editor ................................................................................................ 16

Understanding the Macro Editor............................................................................. 16

Understanding Items in the Macro Editor ..................................................................... 17

Macro Items ............................................................................................................ 17

Source Items ........................................................................................................... 17

Making Selection and Tool Changes............................................................................. 18

Macro Type Based on Recording Selection ........................................................... 18

About Containers .................................................................................................... 18

Selection Changes................................................................................................... 18

Tool Changes .......................................................................................................... 19

Importing and Exporting Macros .................................................................................. 19

Chapter 9Working with Styles............................................................................ 19

What Are Styles?........................................................................................................... 19

Type of Styles ......................................................................................................... 19

Applying a Style ..................................................................................................... 19

Creating Styles ............................................................................................................. 19

Creating a Style from the Current Visualization .................................................... 19

Creating a New Style from the Style Editor ........................................................... 20

Working with the Current Style.............................................................................. 20

Copying an Existing Style ...................................................................................... 20

Applying Styles ............................................................................................................ 20

Applying a Style to a Selected Item........................................................................ 20

Applying a Style to All Items ................................................................................. 20

Applying a Style When Launching an iTool .......................................................... 20

Editing Styles ............................................................................................................... 21Copying Properties Within Styles........................................................................... 21

Cutting and Deleting Properties within Styles........................................................ 21

Selecting Multiple Properties for Editing ............................................................... 21

Setting the Default Style................................................................................................ 21

Importing and Exporting Styles .................................................................................... 21


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Exporting a File to Share......................................................................................... 214

Importing a Received File ....................................................................................... 214

Chapter 10Using the iTools Procedural Interface .............................................. 215

What is the iTools Procedural Interface?....................................................................... 216Quick Example ........................................................................................................ 216

Limitations of the Procedural Interface................................................................... 217

Routines in the iTools Procedural Interface ............................................................ 217

Understanding iTool Identifiers and IGETID................................................................ 219

Pattern Matching Rules Used by IGETID............................................................... 220

Setting iTool Properties ................................................................................................. 224

What is a Property? ................................................................................................. 224

Changing a Property Value ..................................................................................... 224

Getting the Current Property Value......................................................................... 225

Determining Property Identifiers and Allowed Values ........................................... 225

Modifying iTool Data .................................................................................................... 227

Changing a Visualizations Data ............................................................................. 227

Retrieving a Visualizations Data............................................................................ 228

Creating iTool Annotations............................................................................................ 230

What is an Annotation? ........................................................................................... 230

Creating Annotations On Glass ........................................................................... 231

Creating Annotations that Coexist with Data.......................................................... 231

Coordinate Systems ................................................................................................. 232

Transforming iTool Items .............................................................................................. 235

Translating Items ..................................................................................................... 235

Rotating Items ......................................................................................................... 235

Scaling Items ........................................................................................................... 235

Magnifying the Window Contents .......................................................................... 236

Saving iTool Windows .................................................................................................. 237

Chapter 11Working with Images.......................................................................... 239

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 240

Displaying Images ......................................................................................................... 241

Displaying Multiple Images .................................................................................... 243

Using the Image Panel ................................................................................................... 245


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Image ROIs ............................................................................................................. 24

The Palette Editor ................................................................................................... 24

Window Level Control ........................................................................................... 24

Image Properties............................................................................................................ 24

Modifying Properties .............................................................................................. 24

Adding a Colorbar ......................................................................................................... 24

Adding Axes.................................................................................................................. 25

Resampling an Image .................................................................................................... 25

Filtering an Image ......................................................................................................... 25

Convolving an Image.............................................................................................. 25

Applying a Median Filter........................................................................................ 25

Smoothing an Image ............................................................................................... 25

Applying a Roberts Filter ....................................................................................... 25

Applying a Sobel Filter........................................................................................... 25

Applying an Unsharp Mask .................................................................................... 25

Applying a Morphological Operator ............................................................................. 25

Contouring an Image ..................................................................................................... 25

Surfacing an Image........................................................................................................ 25

Manipulating the Image Display ................................................................................... 25

Rotating an Image ................................................................................................... 25

Scaling an Image and Byte Scaling an Image......................................................... 25

Inverting an Image .................................................................................................. 25Flipping an Image ................................................................................................... 25

View Zoom ............................................................................................................. 25

Canvas Zoom .......................................................................................................... 25

Pixel Scaling ........................................................................................................... 25

Region Growing...................................................................................................... 25

Adding Annotations ................................................................................................ 26

Line Profiles............................................................................................................ 26

View Panning.......................................................................................................... 26

Cropping an Image.................................................................................................. 26

iImage Tool Operations ................................................................................................ 26

Viewing a Histogram .............................................................................................. 26

Viewing Image Statistics ........................................................................................ 26

Cropping Images..................................................................................................... 26


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Chapter 12Working with Surfaces ....................................................................... 265

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 266

Displaying Surfaces ....................................................................................................... 267

Surface Properties .......................................................................................................... 269

The Visualization Browser ...................................................................................... 269

The Operations Browser.......................................................................................... 269

Adding a Colorbar.......................................................................................................... 271

Adding a Light ............................................................................................................... 272

Adding a Legend............................................................................................................ 273

Adding Axes .................................................................................................................. 274

Imaging a Surface .......................................................................................................... 275

Contouring a Surface ..................................................................................................... 276

Resampling a Surface .................................................................................................... 278

Filtering a Surface.......................................................................................................... 279

Convolving a Surface .............................................................................................. 279

Median a Surface..................................................................................................... 279

Smoothing a Surface ............................................................................................... 279

Adding a Texture Map ................................................................................................... 280

Manipulating Surface Displays...................................................................................... 281

Rotating a Surface ................................................................................................... 281

Scaling a Surface ..................................................................................................... 283Adding Annotations ................................................................................................ 284

View Zoom.............................................................................................................. 284

Canvas Zoom........................................................................................................... 285

Extracting a Line Profile ......................................................................................... 285

iSurface Tool Operations ............................................................................................... 286

Viewing a Histogram Plot ....................................................................................... 286

Viewing Statistics.................................................................................................... 286

Chapter 13Working with Contours ...................................................................... 287

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 288

Displaying Contours ...................................................................................................... 289

Displaying Regular-grid Data ................................................................................. 289

Displaying Irregular-grid Data ................................................................................ 290


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Contour Properties......................................................................................................... 29

Labeling Contours ......................................................................................................... 29

Changing the Contour Colors........................................................................................ 30

Filling Contours............................................................................................................. 30

Adding a Colorbar ......................................................................................................... 30

Adding a Legend ........................................................................................................... 30

Adding Axes.................................................................................................................. 30

Filtering a Contour ........................................................................................................ 30

Contour Smoothing................................................................................................. 30

Contour Convolution .............................................................................................. 30

Manipulating the Contour Display ................................................................................ 30

Translating .............................................................................................................. 30

View Zoom ............................................................................................................. 30

Flipping a Contour .................................................................................................. 30

Canvas Zoom .......................................................................................................... 30

Scaling a Contour Display ...................................................................................... 30


iContour Tool Operations.............................................................................................. 31


Viewing Statistics ................................................................................................... 31

Chapter 14

Working with Plots .............................................................................. 31Introduction ................................................................................................................... 31

Displaying Two-Dimensional Plots .............................................................................. 31

Displaying Three-Dimensional Plots ............................................................................ 31

Displaying Polar Plots ................................................................................................... 31

Overplotting................................................................................................................... 32

Plot Properties ............................................................................................................... 32


Adding Legends ............................................................................................................ 32Adding a Colorbar ......................................................................................................... 32

Adding Error Bars ......................................................................................................... 32

Curve Fitting.................................................................................................................. 32

Filtering a Plot ............................................................................................................... 33

Plot Smoothing ....................................................................................................... 33


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Plot Convolution...................................................................................................... 332

Plot Median ............................................................................................................. 332

Manipulating the Plot Display ....................................................................................... 333

Translating............................................................................................................... 333


View Zoom.............................................................................................................. 334

Canvas Zoom........................................................................................................... 334

Selecting the Data Range ........................................................................................ 334

iPlot Tool Operations ..................................................................................................... 335

Scaling a Plot Display ............................................................................................. 335

Viewing a Histogram............................................................................................... 335

Viewing Statistics.................................................................................................... 335

Chapter 15Working with Volumes........................................................................ 337

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 338

Displaying Volumes....................................................................................................... 339

Multi-Channel Volumes .......................................................................................... 339

Rendering Volumes ................................................................................................. 340

Using the Volume Panel ................................................................................................ 343

Volume Properties ......................................................................................................... 345

Modifying Properties............................................................................................... 345

Adding a Colorbar.......................................................................................................... 346

Adding Axes .................................................................................................................. 347

Resampling Volumes ..................................................................................................... 348

Showing an Image Plane................................................................................................ 349

Viewing the Image Plane in iImage ........................................................................ 349

Extracting an IsoSurface ................................................................................................ 350

Extracting an Interval Volume....................................................................................... 352

Manipulating the Volume Display................................................................................. 354

Rotating a Volume................................................................................................... 354Scaling a Volume .................................................................................................... 354

View Zoom.............................................................................................................. 354

Canvas Zoom........................................................................................................... 354


iVolume Tool Operations .............................................................................................. 356


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Viewing Statistics ................................................................................................... 35

Smoothing a Volume .............................................................................................. 35

Opening an Image Stack ......................................................................................... 35

Chapter 16Working with Maps.............................................................................. 35

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 36

Displaying Maps............................................................................................................ 36

Applying a Map Projection .......................................................................................... 36

Using the Map Panel ..................................................................................................... 36

Displaying an Image...................................................................................................... 36

Registering an Image .................................................................................................... 37

Registering an Image in Meters .............................................................................. 37

Registering an Image in Degrees ............................................................................ 37

Displaying a Contour..................................................................................................... 37

Creating a Shape Visualization ..................................................................................... 37

Inserting a Map Grid ..................................................................................................... 37

Inserting an IDL Shapefile ............................................................................................ 38

Inserting the Continents .......................................................................................... 38

Inserting the Countries (Low Resolution) .............................................................. 38

Inserting the Countries (High Resolution).............................................................. 38

Inserting the Rivers ................................................................................................. 38

Inserting the Lakes.................................................................................................. 38

Inserting the United States ...................................................................................... 38

Inserting the Canadian Provinces ........................................................................... 38

Chapter 17Working with Vectors .......................................................................... 38

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 38

Displaying Vectors ........................................................................................................ 38

Vector Fields........................................................................................................... 38

Wind Barbs ............................................................................................................. 39

Streamlines.............................................................................................................. 39

Vector Properties ........................................................................................................... 39


Subsampling............................................................................................................ 39


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Coloring Vectors Using Auxiliary Data .................................................................. 396

Manipulating the Vector Visualization .......................................................................... 397

Translating............................................................................................................... 397


View Zoom.............................................................................................................. 398

Canvas Zoom........................................................................................................... 398

iVector Tool Operations ................................................................................................ 399

Adding and Modifying Streamlines ........................................................................ 399

Adding Magnitude Contours ................................................................................... 400

Adding Direction Contours ..................................................................................... 400

Vectors and Mapping ..................................................................................................... 401

Appendix AiTools Interface Reference................................................................. 403

Introduction to iTools Interface Elements ..................................................................... 404

Menu Bar Items ....................................................................................................... 404

Toolbar Items .......................................................................................................... 404

File Menu ....................................................................................................................... 405

Edit Menu....................................................................................................................... 407

Insert Menu .................................................................................................................... 410

Operations Menu............................................................................................................ 411

Window Menu ............................................................................................................... 414

Help Menu ..................................................................................................................... 416

File Toolbar.................................................................................................................... 417

Edit Toolbar ................................................................................................................... 418

Manipulator Toolbar ...................................................................................................... 419

Annotation Toolbar ........................................................................................................ 420

Context Menu................................................................................................................. 421

Appendix BProperty Controls ............................................................................... 423

Appendix COperations Properties........................................................................ 427

The Operations Browser ............................................................................................... 428

Macros Properties ......................................................................................................... 429

Statistics Properties ....................................................................................................... 430

Histogram Properties .................................................................................................... 431


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Filter Properties ............................................................................................................ 43

Convolution Properties ........................................................................................... 43

Median Properties ................................................................................................... 43

Smooth Properties................................................................................................... 43

Roberts Filter Properties ......................................................................................... 43

Sobel Filter Properties ............................................................................................ 43

Unsharp Mask Properties........................................................................................ 43

Curve Fitting Properties.......................................................................................... 43

Rotate Properties .......................................................................................................... 43

Rotate Left Properties ............................................................................................. 43

Rotate Right Properties ........................................................................................... 43

Rotate By Angle Properties .................................................................................... 43

Flip Horizontal ........................................................................................................ 43

Flip Vertical ............................................................................................................ 43

Transform Properties .................................................................................................... 44

Resample Properties ............................................................................................... 44

Rotate Data Properties ............................................................................................ 44

Scale Data Properties .............................................................................................. 44

Invert Image Properties........................................................................................... 44

Byte Scale Properties .............................................................................................. 44

Map Projection Properties ............................................................................................ 44

Map Register Image Properties .................................................................................... 44Morphing Properties ..................................................................................................... 44

Crop Properties ............................................................................................................. 44

Region Grow Properties ............................................................................................... 44

Contour Properties ........................................................................................................ 45

Image Properties ........................................................................................................... 45

Surface Properties ......................................................................................................... 45

Vector Properties ........................................................................................................... 45

Streamlines.............................................................................................................. 45

Contour Magnitude ................................................................................................. 45

Contour Direction ................................................................................................... 45

Volume Properties ........................................................................................................ 45

Image Plane............................................................................................................. 45

Isosurface ................................................................................................................ 45

Render Volume ....................................................................................................... 45


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Interval Volume....................................................................................................... 455

Image Plane Properties ................................................................................................. 456

Launch iImage ......................................................................................................... 457

Appendix D

Visualization Properties..................................................................... 459Introduction to Visualization Properties ........................................................................ 460

The Visualization Browser ............................................................................................ 461

Window Properties ........................................................................................................ 462

View Properties ............................................................................................................. 466

Visualization Layer Properties ...................................................................................... 468

Data Space Properties ................................................................................................... 472

Rendering Objects at Data Space Depth ................................................................. 481

Visualization Type Properties........................................................................................ 482

Image ....................................................................................................................... 483

Plot........................................................................................................................... 488

Plot 3D..................................................................................................................... 496

Surface..................................................................................................................... 502

Contour .................................................................................................................... 512

Vector ...................................................................................................................... 523

Volume .................................................................................................................... 531

Isosurface................................................................................................................. 540

Interval Volume....................................................................................................... 548

Image Plane ............................................................................................................. 556

Colorbar................................................................................................................... 560

Histogram ................................................................................................................ 568

Axes......................................................................................................................... 576

Lights....................................................................................................................... 600

Polygonal ROI ......................................................................................................... 606

IDL Graphics Objects.............................................................................................. 612

Map Grid ................................................................................................................. 613ShapePolygon .......................................................................................................... 623

ShapePolyline .......................................................................................................... 630

ShapePoint .............................................................................................................. 634

Streamlines .............................................................................................................. 636

2D Annotation Layer Properties .................................................................................... 641


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Text Annotation Properties ..................................................................................... 64

Line Annotation Properties ..................................................................................... 65

Line Profile Annotation Properties ......................................................................... 65

Rectangle Annotation Properties ............................................................................ 66

Oval Annotation Properties .................................................................................... 67

Polygon Annotation Properties ............................................................................... 67

Freehand Annotation Properties ............................................................................. 68

Legend Properties.......................................................................................................... 69

Legend Contour Items ........................................................................................... 69

Legend Contour Level Items ................................................................................. 70

Legend Plot Items .................................................................................................. 70

Legend Surface Items ............................................................................................ 70

Index..................................................................................................... 71


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iTool Users Guide 1

Chapter 1

Introducingthe IDL iTools

This chapter introduces you to the new IDL iTools and aids in using this guide.

Introducing the iTools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2


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20 Chapter 1: Introducing the IDL iTools

Introducing the iTools iTool Users Guide

Introducing the iTools

The IDL Intelligent Tools (iTools) are a set of interactive utilities that combine data

analysis and visualization with the task of producing presentation quality graphics.

Based on the IDL Object Graphics system, the iTools are designed to help you get themost out of your data with minimal effort. They allow you to continue to benefit from

the control of a programming language, while enjoying the convenience of a point-

and-click environment.

In IDL, several pre-built iTools are available for immediate interactive use. Each of

these tools is designed around a specific data or visualization type, including:

Two- and three-dimensional plots (line, scatter, polar, and histogram style)

Surface representations

Contour data Map data

Image displays

Volume visualizations

Vector displays

The iTools are built upon an object-oriented framework, or set of object classes, that

serve as the building blocks for the interface and functionality of the iTools. IDL

programmers can easily use this framework to create custom data analysis and

visualization environments. Such custom iTools may be called from within a larger

IDL application, or they may serve as the foundation for a complete application.

The iTools are fully integrated with the Visualize Perspective in the IDL Workbench.

This perspective provides ways to immediately visualize data without IDL

programming. For more information on how to use this functionality, please see

Using the Visualize Perspective.

A Single Tool with Many Faces

What sets the iTools apart from precursors such as the Live Tools (now obsolete) and what gives them their optimal power, flexibility, and extensibility is the

cohesive, open architecture of the iTools system. The iTools system is actually

comprised of a single tool, which adapts to handle the data that you pass to it. The

plot, surface, image, contour, and volume tools are simply shortcut configurations,

which facilitate ad hoc data analysis and visualization. Each tool encapsulates the

functionality (data operations, display manipulations, and visualization types)
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/com.rsi.idl.doc.wb/Visualize_Perspective.htmlhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/com.rsi.idl.doc.wb/Visualize_Perspective.html


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Chapter 1: Introducing the IDL iTools 2

iTool Users Guide Introducing the iToo

required to handle its data or visualization type. However, you are not constrained to

work with a single data or visualization type. Instead, using the iTools system, you

may start by bringing up a surface plot in a surface tool and then import scattered

point data into the same plot to see the relationship between two data sets. Or, you

may start with an image display, overlay contours from another data set, and map

both the image and contours onto a three-dimensional surface representation of athird data set. By throwing new data into an iTool, it is easy to end up with a hybrid

tool that can handle complex, composite visualizations.

Of course, you have always been able to create these kinds of powerful, composite

visualizations in IDL to reveal important relationships and trends in data. The main

enhancements the iTools provide are more mouse interactivity, WYSIWYG (What-

You-See-Is-What-You-Get) printing, built-in analysis, undo-redo capabilities, layou

control, and better-looking plots. These robust, pre-built tools reduce the amount of

programming IDL users must do to create interactive visualizations. At the same

time, the iTools integrate in a seamless manner with the IDL Workbench VisualizePerspective, Command Line, user interface controls, and custom algorithms. In this

way, the iTools maintain and enhance the control and flexibility IDL users rely on fo

data exploration, algorithm design, and rapid application development.

Foundation for the Future

As you will discover, the iTools are compelling tools to add to your arsenal. They

complement the strong foundation that IDL has maintained over the course of its

evolution. This foundation has made possible countless valuable user-written

applications across many disciplines and industries. However, the iTools also

represent another display paradigm for IDL. While the iTools system in IDL is a

powerful and flexible environment that will allow you to immediately accelerate you

data interpretation and reporting, it is only the beginning. We will continue to build

on this new technology in future releases. You can look forward to more

functionality, flexibility, and optimization as the iTools system continues to grow.

We look forward to members of the IDL community building on the iTools system a

well. The iTools source code is included in the IDL distribution to allow you to:

extend the pre-built tools with your own operations, manipulations,

visualization types, and GUI controls create your own custom tools based on the iTools component framework

share your inventions with others in the IDL community via the ITT Visual

Information Solutions User-Contributed Library (www.ittvis.com/codebank)

or other avenues of collaboration and distribution


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Introducing the iTools iTool Users Guide

NoteFor more information on building your own iTools or building hybrid iTools, see

the iTool Developers Guide.

Tips and instructions for using this guide are detailed in the following section.


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Using This Guide iTool Users Guide

Chapter 14, Working with Plots This chapter describes the iPlot tool and

gives you insight into unique plotting and plot manipulation tasks.

Chapter 15, Working with Volumes This chapter describes the iVolume

tool and gives you insight into unique volume visualization and volume

manipulation tasks.

Chapter 16, Working with Maps This chapter describes the iMap tool and

gives you insight into unique mapping and map manipulation tasks.

Chapter 17, Working with Vectors This chapter describes the iVector tool

and gives you insight into unique vector and vector manipulation tasks.

Appendix A, iTools Interface Reference This appendix gives you a

detailed look at the iTool interface and its components.

Appendix B, Property Controls This appendix describes the iTool

controls used to set properties in the iTool property sheets.

Appendix C, Operations Properties This appendix describes the

properties of the iTools found in the Operations Browser of each iTool.

Appendix D, Visualization Properties This appendix describes the

properties of the iTools found in the Visualization Browser of each iTool.


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iTool Users Guide 2

Chapter 2

Importing andExporting Data

This chapter describes how to access data using the iTool.

About the Data Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Data Import Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Importing Data from a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Working with Unknown Data . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Importing Data from the IDL Session . . . . 4

Parameter Data and the Command Line . . 4

Exporting and Saving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . 4


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Chapter 2: Importing and Exporting Data 2

iTool Users Guide About the Data Manage

Data Manager Interface

The Data Managers graphical user interface consists of these elements:

Data Tree View This window, on the left side of the dialog, shows all of th

data items available within the Data Manager. Depending on how data items

were added to the Data Manager, they may be collected into groups of related

items; for example, individual image channels associated with a true-color

image will show up underneath the Data Manager entry for the image itself.

The data tree view will be empty unless you have read or imported data into

the Data Manager.

Data Properties This window, on the right side of the dialog, shows you al

properties and their values for the data item selected in the data tree view.

Help This button will invokes the IDL online help system.

Import Variable This button allows you to select a variable in the IDL

Main scope to import into the Data Manager. For more information on

importing a variable into your Data Manager, see Importing Data from the

IDL Sessionon page 43.

Import File This button allows you to select a data file to import into the

Data Manager.

Dismiss This button will dismiss the dialog.

Figure 2-1: The iTools Data Manager


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28 Chapter 2: Importing and Exporting Data

About the Data Manager iTool Users Guide

Data Item Management

In addition to the ability to import new data into the Data Manager, you can rename,

duplicate, or remove existing data items.

Renaming data To rename a data item, enter a new name in the Namefield

on the data property sheet.

Deleting data To delete an unused or outdated data item, select the item in

the tree view, click the right mouse button to display the Data Manager context

menu, and choose the Deleteoption.

NoteDeletion is not reversible.

Duplicating data To create a copy of an existing data item, select the item

in the tree view, click the right mouse button to display the Data Managercontext menu, and choose the Duplicateoption.


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iTool Users Guide Data Import Method

Data Import Methods

Data items in the Data Manager are available to all iTools until it they are removed.

You can bring data into the iTool Data Manager in the following ways:

Using the Data Import Wizard (File Import)

By opening a data file directly (File Open)

By using the IDL command IOPEN

Using the Import Variable ...or Import File...buttons on the Data Manager

dialog (Window Data Manager)

By specifying data parameters at the IDL command line. For example,

specifying the following at the IDL command line:

iPlot, myDataVariable

places the variablemyDataVariablein the Data Manager.

These methods are described in the following sections.

Using the Data Import Wizardon page 30

Using File Openon page 34

Using the Data Manager Dialogon page 35

Importing Data from the IDL Sessionon page 43

NoteOnce data has been imported into the iTool and is visible in the Data Manager, ther

are a numerous ways to visualize the data. To learn more about visualizing data, se

Chapter 3, Visualizations.
http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/


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Using the Data Import Wizard iTool Users Guide

Using the Data Import Wizard

The iToolData Import Wizardsteps you through the process of importing data into

the Data Manager. Launch the Data Import Wizard by selecting File Import... The

Data Import Wizard has three screens:

1. Select the data source.

You can import data either from a data file or from the IDL session:

From a File allows you to select a data file to import.

From an IDL Variable allows you to select an IDL variable to import.

For more information on importing a variable into your Data Manager, see

Importing Data from the IDL Sessionon page 43.

2. Select the data and specify a data name.

If you are importing data from a file, the second screen of the Data Import Wizard

contains the following items:

File Name The full path of the file want to open. You can populate this

field using a standard dialog by clicking the File Openbutton.

File Openbutton Displays the standard file-selection dialog.

File Type After a file is selected, the File Typefield displays the format

of the file.

Type Properties Window After a file is selected the properties window

shows properties of the file reader that will import the data, if any exist.

Modify these properties as necessary to import your data correctly.

NoteFor more information about file format types that are available in iTools, see

File Readerson page 103.

Data Import Name The name that will be used for the imported data in

the Data Manager.Importing some types of data files may cause IDL to present additional screens that

describe the data before import.

For image data see Importing Image Dataon page 36

For ASCII data see Importing ASCII Dataon page 36

For binary data see Importing Binary Dataon page 37


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Using the Data Import Wizard iTool Users Guide

3. Click the File Openbutton just to the right of the File Namefield and

select the endocell.jpgfile from the examples/datadirectory of the IDL

distribution. Click Next.

Figure 2-3: The IDL Data Import Wizard, Showing Step 2 of 3

Figure 2-4: The IDL Data Import Wizard, Showing Step 3 of 3


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iTool Users Guide Using the Data Import Wiza

4. Select Imageas the desired visualization to create since we have a JPEG

image.

5. Click Finish. The data is imported into the Data Manager, and a new image

visualization appears in the iTool window.

NoteThe process of creating visualizations is discussed in detail in Chapter 3,

Visualizations.


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Using File Open iTool Users Guide

Using File Open

Selecting a data file using File Openwill open the file using the default iTool file

reader for the type of file you select. The data will be added to the Data Manager and

the iTool will automatically create the default visualization for the data contained in

the file.

If the data in the file you select is binary or ASCII, you will be prompted to specify

further information that will allow the binary or ASCII file readers to correctly import

the data. For an explanation of the handling of various file types see the following

sections:

For ASCII data see Importing ASCII Dataon page 36

For binary data see Importing Binary Dataon page 37

For ShapeFile data see Importing Shapefile Dataon page 38

For data of an unrecognized format see Working with Unknown Dataon

page 39

Using IOPEN

The iOpen functionality allows you to access many different file types directly from

the workbench rather than from the command line. When you open an image file this

way, it immediately displays in an iImage window. In cases where data displays in an

iTool, data is copied into the iTools Data Manager. (See About the Data Managerfor

more information.)

When you open other available data types, the data variables contained in that file are

read into IDLs scope and are made available in the IDL Variables View. You define

the variable names when you use this method. See IOPENfor more information.
http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/


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iTool Users Guide Using the Data Manager Dialo

Using the Data Manager Dialog

Selecting Window Data Manageropens the Data Manager dialog. You can then

click the Import Variable...or Import File...button.

Importing a FileIf you are importing data from a file, the File Import dialog appears. It contains the

following items:

File name The full path of the file want to open. You can populate this fiel

using a standard dialog by clicking the File Openbutton.

File Openbutton displays the standard file-selection dialog.

Import options Displays a properties window shows properties of the file

reader that will import the data, if any exist. Modify these properties as

necessary to import your data correctly.

NoteFor more information about file format types that are available in iTools, se

File Readerson page 103.

Data import name The name that will be used for the imported data in th

Data Manager.

Importing a Variable

If you are importing data from an IDL variable, the IDL Variable Browser appears. I

contains the following items:

List of IDL Variables All variables available in the current IDL session ar

listed in a tree view.

Variable Information Information about the selected variable is displaye

to the right of the tree view.

Data Import Name The name that will be used for the imported data in th

Data Manager. Import Type The variable type to be used for the imported data in the Dat

Manager.


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Importing Data from a File iTool Users Guide

Importing Data from a File

You can import data from several types of files into the iTool Data Manager. The

following sections describe the process of importing different types of data.

Importing Image Dataon page 36

Importing ASCII Dataon page 36

Importing Binary Dataon page 37

Importing Shapefile Dataon page 38

Importing Image Data

You can visualize image data stored in many common file formats. Common image

file formats accepted are:

NoteYou can also use the iTools export and export variable features to export image data

and variables. For more information on exporting, see Exporting and Saving Data

on page 46.

NoteFor more information on the iImage tool and its functions and features, see Chapter

11, Working with Images.

Importing ASCII Data

When you open a file containing ASCII data, you must specify the format of the file

before the iTool can read the data and place it into the Data Manager. The iTool opens

the ASCII Templatedialog to allow you to specify the format of the ASCII data.

DICOM Images Macintosh PICT

Graphics Interchange

Format Images (GIF)

Portable Network

Graphics (PNG)

Joint Photographic

Experts Group (JPEG)

Tag Image File Format

(TIFF)

JPEG2000 (JP2 or JPX) Windows Bitmap (BMP)


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iTool Users Guide Importing Data from a Fi

NoteYou can also use the iTools export and export variable features to export ASCII

data and variables. For more information on exporting, see Exporting and Saving

Dataon page 46.

To import ASCII data in an iTool, select File Openor click the Import Filebuttoin the Data Manager or Insert Visualization dialog. See Using the ASCII Template

Dialogunder ASCII_TEMPLATE(IDL Reference Guide)for instructions on how

to use the dialog to define the structure of your ASCII data.

NoteOnce data has been imported into the iTool and is visible in the Data Manager, ther

are a few ways to visualize the data. To learn more about visualizing data, see


For more information on using the ASCII file reader, see ASCII_TEMPLATE(IDL

Reference Guide).

Importing Binary Data

When you open a file containing binary data that is not of a format recognized by an

other file reader available to your iTool, you must specify the format of the file befor

the iTool can read the data and place it into the Data Manager. The iTool opens the

Binary Templatedialog to allow you to specify the format of the binary data.

NoteIf the file contains binary data of a recognized format, such as TIFF or JPEG, the

iTool will automatically choose the correct file reader to read the binary data.

NoteYou can also use the iTools export and export variable features to export binary

data and variables. For more information on exporting, see Exporting and Saving

Dataon page 46.

To import binary data in an iTool, select File Openor click the Import Filebuttoin the Data Manager or Insert Visualization dialog. See Using the

BINARY_TEMPLATE Interfaceunder BINARY_TEMPLATE(IDL Reference

Guide)for instructions on how to use the dialog to define the structure of your binar

data.
http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/


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Importing Data from a File iTool Users Guide

NoteOnce data has been imported into the iTool and is visible in the Data Manager, there



For more information on the binary file reader, see BINARY_TEMPLATE(IDLReference Guide).

For more information on plotting and plot functions, see Chapter 14, Working with

Plots.

Importing Shapefile Data

For more information on shapefiles and inserting them into an iTool, see Inserting an

IDL Shapefileon page 380.

NoteOnce data has been imported into the iTool and is visible in the Data Manager, there


http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/http://refguide.pdf/


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iTool Users Guide Working with Unknown Da

Working with Unknown Data

If you supply data in a format not recognized by the current iTool, the Create

Visualizationdialog allows you to specify how the data is to be used.

You will see this dialog if the data you supply when launching an iTool from the IDL

command line does not match a known data organization for the selected tool, or if

you open an ASCII text file containing data that appears to be irregularly gridded.

TheCreate Visualization dialog contains the following choices:

Launch the gridding wizard

This option lets you transform irregu

Documents

i Tool User Guide